Corporate is building one of the chain tire stores in my town, which was allowed of course by the great overseers on the building committee or zoning dept or whatever hideous name they use. Besides already having many tire shops in town, we needed more. Especially a corporate chain store. What they don’t understand is that corporate chain businesses impoverish an area by hoovering the money out of the local economy and sending it off to NYC, Charlotte or some other banker town. The zoning dept thinks that they get a nice looking, new building for the town…increased property taxes…and a few low paying service jobs. They don’t see that the business doesn’t add to a community…no one goes there to hang out and meet with others, talk, have coffee.
I once was going to write a travel book of america. In it I would document the areas and businesses of american towns. I could go to Des Moines and photograph the mcdonalds, wendys, wal marts, chain hotels and tire shops in the town. Then go to Tulsa and document the same. The same blandness, squatted across the land. Giving nothing back but a few low paid jobs…sucking the money from the local economy and sending it to corporate, impoverishing a people.
But such is life in a centrally planned economy…where those closest to power get access to virtually free money…and the little folk get access to a few thousand in credit card debt at 20+% interest…while their civilization is wiped out.